The Orange Mystery
by AriannaCastellis1
Summary: A short one shot response to why everyone was wearing orange in this week's episode.


Title: The Orange Mystery

Author: AriannaCastellis1

Spoilers: No real spoilers, but this is specifically during the episode _Free Fall_

Summery: Just my little take on why everyone was wearing orange during the episode.

A/N: Not beta'd all mistakes are mine.

The Orange Mystery

Betty had been with the Miami-Dade Crime Lab for many years. She wasn't a cop, but she was superb at her job. In reality she made the building function, and if someone made her mad – well, they could forget getting any of their work done. She was the boss, the one they all feared, she was – the receptionist.

Betty looked up as the elevator opened, ready to be the cheerful helpful person they all had come to expect at the front desk. But it was only Ryan Wolfe and Calleigh Duquesne. She nodded her hello as they went past her desk, deep in a discussion. Betty smiled to herself as they went past and opened a small notebook that she kept hidden among the papers on her desk. Under the day's date she wrote: "Calleigh and Ryan – orange".

Betty was fond of office gossip and lately there had been plenty. In fact, people were starting to say there was a leak inside the department. Ever since she had gotten an odd look from Linda over in records a couple months ago, Betty had quelled her tongue, not wanting anyone to suspect her of leaking information. Since then, she had tried to make her own gossip in order to feel like she was still a part of the CSIs' lives.

Her current obsession was fashion. Not able to look as glamorous as most of the beauties that seemed to flock into Miami, Betty liked to critique the fashion that seemed to abound in the Crime Lab. This watching had brought to her the realization that there were several days that people seemed to color co-ordinate with each other. Betty liked to pretend that these people had matching outfits because they had spent the previous night together. And not in a crime scene kind of way, either.

So far she had several days of Eric and Natalia in matching outfits, but that wasn't exactly news. She had come across the couple one time on her way back from a coffee break and there was no doubt in her mind that the conversation was much more intimate than co-workers, or even friends. The days that Ryan and Eric wore matching outfits always made Betty giggle. She'd heard rumors, before she had taken herself out of the office grapevine, and there was always the question as to why the two snarked at each other.

Some days were really weird. There was the day a few weeks back that Alexx, Calleigh, and Valera had all worn the same color. That had made an interesting hypothesis that Betty didn't really care to contemplate. But it was still highly amusing.

It was during her morning break that Betty got a bit of a surprise. It was a nice day, so Betty had taken the opportunity to spend a few minutes outside in the sun. She saw Calleigh and Ryan talking to two people that she knew had just been released from prison. And damn if they didn't match the CSIs. Betty shook her head and told herself it was just a coincidence. No way was she going to include criminals in her book!

As the criminals walked off and Calleigh headed inside, Betty saw Erica Sikes being called over by Ryan. How she wished she could be a little fly and hear _that_ conversation. And wouldn't the gossip mill be useful right now with the possible triangle between Ryan, Calleigh, and Erica. Betty chuckled to herself. Erica may not be a CSI, but she was still part of this game and she was wearing orange, too! She couldn't wait to add Erica's name to today's list. It was going to be a good day.

Betty was back at her desk when the next surprise hit. Down the hall came Eric Delko catching up with Ryan. And low and behold, he was wearing orange, too. She pulled out her little notebook and added to the list: "Eric – orange".

She shook her head as she looked over her list. Calleigh, Ryan, Erica, and Eric. That must have been an interesting night!

She went back to her work, thinking that maybe there was something going on that she didn't' know about. What did they do, call each other before work in order to all wear orange today? She was glad that at least one person had managed to escape that call. She had seen Horatio Caine earlier and, although his hair could arguably be an orange color, he was not wearing anything in that hue.

The elevator doors dinged again and she looked up to see Detective Frank Tripp enter the crime lab. She felt her heart stop as he passed her desk. "Afternoon, Betty," he called as he went by. Betty tried to answer, but couldn't. As he walked down the hall, presumably to find Horatio, she felt her heart start beating again. His tie – his TIE! She pulled out her book and added to her ever-growing list: "Frank – orange".

Definitely something going on here. She wished she knew what was going on because the thought of all those people having spent the night together was just a mite too disturbing for Betty.

It was while Betty was walking back to her desk after lunch that she spotted another suspect through the glass walls of the lab. He was talking to Horatio and Frank and she couldn't help but notice the bright orange pants the suspect wore. What was going on anyway? Was it national orange day or something? Was there some sort of protestant protest going on that she wasn't aware of? It was nuts. And she really, _really_ wished that she could ask someone in the gossip mill. But she didn't want anyone suspecting her of being a mole. It was better to suffer in silence.

And whatever was going on, Horatio wasn't a part of, so it wasn't like Betty was the only one left out.

By the end of the day, Betty thought she wouldn't be surprised at anything else, but she was wrong. Calleigh and Ryan were walking towards the elevator, but stopped when Eric asked them to wait for him. Betty strained her ears in order to hear what they were saying.

"I can't believe I spent the entire day wearing an this," Ryan lamented to Calleigh.

"Hey, it was your idea to have a movie marathon of Miami Vice," she replied. "If you hated orange so much, you should have picked something else."

"Yeah well, not everyone wore orange today," Ryan pointed out.

"Yeah," agreed Eric as he walked up to join the others. Calleigh pushed the button and Eric continued, "Why should H get out of it?"

"Oh, but he didn't," Calleigh answered with a grin.

"He's not wearing anything that's orange," Ryan countered.

"Yes he is, actually."

Eric and Ryan shared a glance and then looked to Calleigh for an explanation. Her grin got wider. "Let's just say that I now know the answer to the boxers v. briefs question and leave it at that."

The boys were speechless, but from this angle Betty couldn't see if it was from shock or awe.

The elevator dinged, pulling the attention of the boys. "So what are we watching this weekend?" Ryan asked.

"I was thinking some episodes of _Buffy_," Calleigh answered as they entered.

"No way!" Eric shouted as the doors closed. "No way am I coming to work wearing fangs!"

Betty began to laugh and pulled out her little notebook. Under today's date she added: "Horatio – orange (don't ask)". Under that she put in big letters: Miami Vice marathon.

It was a shame that Betty was no longer part of the office grapevine. This would be a really big thing to share. Then again, she doubted anyone else even noticed.

The End

I've never tried CSI before, so if people are out of character, please forgive me. This idea just kind of came to me after a discussion my sister and I had about why everyone was wearing orange during this week's episode. Hope you enjoyed it.


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